Pseudonym said:
Also, breaking news, cow killed and eaten by humans because they taste better than potatoes and mushrooms.
As a society, we eat animals, experiment on animals, and if they are lucky they are merely our slaves. Why should anyone care about a dead dolphin. If you genuinely care about animals in general or maybe just some class of animals, I don't, but very well. But don't come and ask me for sympathy when animals are killed and tortured in a slightly unusual and visible way.
Thing is, cows are stupid; they had the brains bred out of them centuries ago when they were domesticated. Also, when they're slaughtered for meat it's (usually) done in the quickest way possible to minimize suffering. Moreover, I'm a firm believer that even dumb "meat" animals should lead relatively comfy, full lives prior to the slaughterhouse; I refuse to eat dishes like veal and balut on this principle, and I try to buy free range meats whenever possible.
This on the other hand...they took one of the most intelligent wild animals on the planet, a species known for selflessly rescuing grounded whales and drowning humans, and subjected it to a slow, agonizing death purely for getting five seconds of fame (or infamy in this case).
The way I see it, wild animals should be left the hell alone unless you're hunting them for food, treating something that's sick/injured or invasives that are threatening the survival of native species. Even then I have a laundry list of caveats and exceptions to go along with it: no hunting endangered species, no killing dolphins, primates or any other animal of similar human-like mental capacity, don't waste the meat, only hunt animals "in season," make sure you know what you're doing when caring for wild animals, don't try to domesticate them, be sure to turn them loose once fully recovered, etc.
Some may still see this as hypocrisy, and they may very well be right. It makes sense to me, though.
